The Letter Black’s first full-length project follows the path laid down by their 2009 debut EP, leading them squarely into Evanescence/Flyleaf territory. Goth torment blends with Christian reverence to create a hard, seething sound long on table-saw guitar riffs and keening, minor key melodies. Singer Sarah Anthony’s angst-filled vocals bring out the urgency of the quartet’s lyrics, augmented at times by husband/guitarist Mark Anthony’s screamo-slanted background vocals. Evil often takes the form of toxic boyfriends in these songs — tunes like “My Disease,” “Care Too Much” and “All I Want” trace the scars of tormented relationships. Conversely, yearning expressions like “There’ll Come a Day” and “Invisible” can be taken as paeans to God or a distant earthly lover. Balancing this lyric ambiguity is the album’s emphasis on muscular rock, leavened at times by folk-influenced tracks like the string-draped “Best of Me.” The Letter Black prefers capturing moments of conflict over spiritual reflection, as the smoldering anger within “Fire With Fire” and “Wounded” shows.
More By The Letter Black
- Disciple
- Eowyn
- Pillar